News in pictures 1 June 2011

When Selfridges decided to take a proactive role in protecting endangered fish stocks, it worked with London ad agency 18 Feet & Rising to conceive Project Ocean. Now, over 20 environmental and conservation groups, including the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), have joined forces with the retailer to celebrate the beauty of the ocean and highlight these issues.

In order to encourage donations and engage passers-by they commissioned digital specialist Clusta to develop a number of digital touch points for the campaign including a dynamic website, iPhone App and interactive digital ocean. A custom physics engine was built to animate the fish.

Central to the campaign is the main 4m x 2m interactive window — supported by a giant slogan asking ‘No more fish in the sea?’ This solution was engineered by Paradigm AV to support a 2 x 2 dnp (2800 x 2100 resolution) rear projection wall matrix. It is the highlight of a number of features that adorn the department store-front. Elsewhere, campaigner chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and his Fish Fight have a window highlighting the wasteful madness of discards.

But it is the main window on the corner of Oxford Street and Duke Street which catches the eye. Aside from the four 80-inch dnp cross-prism screens, which make up the media display, the combination of custom software and Visual Planet foil, supplied by Paradigm and operating in real time, provides an advanced integrated solution. Users are able to engage with the ocean scene at street level, text donations and watch their fish being born in real-time as their donation is received.

QSC AcousticDesign AD-S52 surface mount loudspeakers were the perfect complement for world-famous restaurateur, Mourad ‘Momo’ Mazouz, when he moved his Moroccan-themed concept to Beirut recently.

In opening ‘Momo At The Souks’, the proprietor says he wanted to remain faithful to his origins, and discovered in the Lebanese capital the perfect fusion between tradition and modernity in an Arabic Mediterranean city. Situated above the jewellery souks in the centre of the city, the new-build restaurant overlooks the chaos of the city below.

QSC’s Lebanese distributor Technosound has provided sound distribution to the extended terrace, which has a capacity of more than 200 seats. The overall capacity, taking in the café, bar and restaurant, is 300. The terrace mixes vintage furniture, designer pieces and made-to-measure fixtures in the shell of a hanging garden.

The AD-S52 aesthetic fits perfectly into multiple environments; available in black or white, the weather resistant enclosures (which incorporate a 5.25" LF transducer and a 1" neodymium tweeter) can be painted to match any specific decor.

The owner also has a fine musical pedigree (as his world music CD compilations illustrate) and according to Technosound director of sales and marketing, Pierre Fahed, the client is said to be delighted with the transparency and quality of the new fit-out.

Four QSC PLX2502 amplifiers have been assigned to drive the 22 AcousticDesign loudspeakers, which are fed either from a DJ set-up or an iPod for background, while an additional PLX3602 powers the restaurant sound.

The London Stock Exchange has opted for Christie’s MicroTiles digital display solutions for its atrium, with the promise of sharp and uninterrupted broadcast activity. The installation at the London Stock Exchange in Paternoster Square, London is one of the largest MicroTiles projects so far: in all, there will be 508 MicroTiles. The installation will be utilised in the Exchanges new Market Open Ceremony.

Visitors to Paternoster Square are welcomed by columns of Christie MicroTiles in a 1 x 5 configuration. Then as they enter the atrium their view is directed to either side by two strips of MicroTiles, each consisting of 29 and 31 MicroTiles respectively, and on to an impressive video wall that uses 132 MicroTiles in an 11 x 12 array. The video wall, in unison with the other MicroTiles arrays, stream a variety of content throughout the day including live news and market updates from CNBC.

Another MicroTiles video wall (8 x 6 array) has been installed on the balcony overlooking the atrium and can mimic the content on the main video wall. On the ground level there is a mosaic of 46 MicroTiles of different depths and heights. Outside of the Atrium, visitors are kept updated with another set of four columns of MicroTiles (2 x 4 array).

Alfred University’s Miller Theatre has opened in Alfred, New York with a pair of Robert Juliat Topaze followspots that Zachary Hamm, technical director for the Division of Performing Arts, calls “the best spotlights I’ve ever used.”

Barbizon Lighting NY was the integrator and supplier for the theatre, working with Milford, Ohio’s Beck Studios, which was responsible for the venue’s rigging. The Miller Theatre is the latest addition to the Miller Performing Arts Center, which features the C.D. Smith III Flexible Theatre, a black-box space; The Rod Brown Acting Studio; dance and instrumental music rehearsal halls; a scene shop; and faculty offices.

The new proscenium theatre is a multifunctional venue designed to host larger theatre, dance and music performances. The 498-seat Miller Theatre has a stage measuring 3,000 square feet with a three-section lift at the front of the stage; the area above the stage is 49.5 feet high with a series of computer-controlled battens attached to the building’s I-beams. Moveable concert shells can be used to change the shape of the space.

The theatre “is a bit of a challenging space since it has to meet different needs, all of which have different lighting requirements,” says Hamm. “We love the Topaze followspots. They are very quiet and don’t get as hot as others I’ve used. Their ease of movement is great, and they work well in a tripod system. The most unique feature of the Topaze fixtures is the ability to fade the light intensity, which you can’t do on most spots,” he adds.